Warehouse Theatre
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| Warehouse Theatre | |
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| Logo of the Warehouse Theatre | |
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| Address | |
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| Country |  United Kingdom |
| Owned by | Warehouse Theatre Company Ltd |
| Capacity | 100 |
| Opened | 1977 |
| Years active | 31 |
| Rebuilt | 2010 |
| Current use | Theatre performances |
| www.warehousetheatre.co.uk | |
| Coordinates: | |
The Warehouse Theatre is a professional producing theatre with one hundred seats in the centre of the London Borough of Croydon, based in an oak-beamed former cement Victorian warehouse. It is acclaimed for its commitment to new writing, including its annual International Playwriting Festival, in partnership with the Extra Candoni Festival of Udine in Italy and Theatro Ena in Cyprus. Youth theatre is also important, with the resident Croydon Young Peoples' Theatre (CRYPT) and including an annual collaboration with the Croydon-based Brit School. Within the building there is also a popular CaféBar.
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[edit] The early years
The Warehouse Theatre was founded by Sam Kelly, Richard Ireson and Adrian Shergold at the height of the lunchtime theatre boom with the aim of presenting a varied season of plays with an emphasis on new work to the highest possible standards. The first production - Hell's Angels on Typewriters by Angela Wye - opened in May 1977, and the then 50 seat auditorium became an instant favourite with local audiences for lunchtime performances whilst sharing the building with a Caribbean night club.
In 1978, the Arts Council recognised the work of the theatre by awarding a major grant and in 1979 the nightclub closed, evening performances were introduced and the seating capacity was increased to 100. Highly respected touring companies began to visit the theatre between in-house productions. Extremely popular cabaret evenings were introduced, with performers including Lenny Henry, French & Saunders, Rik Mayall, Ben Elton, and Julian Clary. Gradually more plays were premiered, with many being specially commissioned by successful writers, such as Sue Townsend, who wrote Groping for Words and Womberang for the theatre.
After the withdrawal of an Arts Council grant in 1984, potential closure was averted when the London Borough of Croydon and the GLC agreed to replace the grant. Following a brief closure for major refurbishment, including the building of the bar, the theatre re-opened in 1985 under the directorship of Ted Craig with the premiere of David Allen's Cheapside.
Now concentrating exclusively on new playwriting, initiatives such as the South London Playwriting Festival were launched, giving an invaluable platform to works by both new and established writers. Kevin Hood's compelling new play Beached won the first festival in 1986 and he later became Resident Playwright, writing both The Astronomer's Garden and Sugar Hill Blues for the theatre.
[edit] Building on success
The South London Playwriting Festival quickly became the highly acclaimed International Playwriting Festival, reflecting the number of entries from all over the globe. Finalists have included playwrights from the USA, Trinidad and Tobago, Australia and Bulgaria, with the 1994 winner, Dino Mahoney, being half Irish, half Greek, living in Hong Kong. Dino's selected play Yo Yo had its premiere here in April 1995. In 1996, the Warehouse Theatre inaugurated a partnership with the leading Italian playwriting festival, the Premio Candoni Arta Terme and in 1999 a partnership was also formed with Theatro Ena in Cyprus providing selected writers with a window for further productions in Europe. The new writers discovered by the festival have since gone from strength to strength and further productions, radio and screen contracts, and success with other work has followed, including James Martin Charlton, Sheila Dewey, Richard Vincent, Mark Norfolk, Maggie Neville and Roumen Shomov.
[edit] The building
The Warehouse Theatre is a converted Victorian warehouse, built in 1882 for a sand, cement and lime merchant. In spite of refurbishments, it still has several original features. There are picture tiles from the 1880s, mostly on the cellar under the main staircase, and a "crab" winch and wall crane of unusual design in full working order on the side of the building. Early drawings show that the bar, opened in 1985, is actually sited in the old stable block, with the eating area above in the appropriately named "Hayloft" bar.
But the Victorian charm of the building does have its less engaging side. The removal of a false ceiling in 1981 uncovered the planked roof and vast beams and tresses of the original holes in the original roof to let in the original rain over audience and cast alike.
Space is another problem. The office looks like a cupboard crossed with a corridor and is actually another entrance to the auditorium. In fact, until 1985 it was the entrance and many bemused latecomers are still escorted up the backstairs and past the kitchen to avoid walking through the scenery. With so little room to manoeuvre, one (unnamed) actress was once forced to crawl along a wooden beam in the roof in order to reach her entrance after she had left by the wrong door the scene before!
But the problems have helped to encourage the ingenuity and imagination in staging and design for which the Warehouse Theatre is rightly acclaimed - and cheerfulness in adversity has seen staff and audiences alike through many a minor crisis.
[edit] The future
For some years a new theatre has been planned and this is now a reality as both of the rival developers for the site have included a new theatre in their plans. Stanhope/ Schroders & Arrowcroft/ Frogmore will provide a new permanent home that will replace the current building on the land that stretches between Dingwall Road and the railway line north to Lansdowne Road. The first proposal (Stanhope's) is for a 200 seat theatre custom-designed by Foster + Partners in their [Ruskin Square] development surrounded by a large new park. This will be paid for in full by Stanhope at a cost approaching £5 million. It would be a unique and very special theatre and would be a real attraction for Croydon. Design work is progressing apace and building work is ready to commence once the remaining pre-commencement planning conditions have been cleared by Croydon Council ( technical issues like site drainage and the lighting scheme). Once these hurdles are out of the way it will be approximately 24 months until the move from current home into new building. The current building will then be demolished and become part of the attractive park! The company has already agreed terms with Stanhope for a lease of 75 years at a peppercorn rent, along with a commitment for sponsorship of £30,000 per year which continues for three years after opening the new theatre. The Board of the Warehouse Theatre believe that this is the best option for securing a fully funded, workable and unique building that will be a perfect home to develop our work in. The second proposal (Arrowcroft's) is for an Arena-led scheme Croydon Gateway On 5 June 2007 Arrowcroft changed their scheme to incorporate a replacement theatre as part of a condition of planning. It is proposed that it occupies one of the leisure units behind the Arena facing onto the plaza with a children's playground in front (see below). The plan is to build a 200 seat theatre inside the leisure unit but the drawings provided are only illustrative and do not provide a theatre which meets the brief. The Warehouse Theatre Board has not yet been able to validate these proposals or its real value. The biggest problem is that the Arrowcroft scheme would be built in one phase and requires the theatre to vacate the current theatre before the development begins. The theatre would then be without a home for a period of three years or more and would need a temporary location and additional funding to make this possible. Croydon Council as the promoter of the Arena, and the acquiring authority making the compulsory purchase order,is in the best position to find a solution to these crucial issues. They are also the "guardian" of the planning agreement. Currently no work has been done or agreed on these issues. It is up to Croydon Council to help find a workable way in which the theatre can not only survive but thrive. The Warehouse Theatre Board is confident that these issues can be overcome but only with the active support of Croydon Council. Timescale The outcome of the Inquiry will be known in July 2008. Stanhope will take no more than 24 months to build the first part of Ruskin Square (the park, theatre, first office blocks etc)with the theatre opening for Christmas/New Year 2009/10. The Arrowcroft Arena development will take at least 3 years from a start on site. A start is anticipated in 2010, with completion in 2014, because finance needs to be raised and land tribunal issues dealt with before a start can be made. The Immediate Future
The company will remain in the present building for the next two years regardless of the outcome of the public Inquiry.
The Theatre celebrated its 30th birthday on the evening of 17th May 2007 with a gala performance including stars of past performances and extracts of plays performed over the years.
[edit] Fundraising Challenge
The Warehouse Theatre will be launching its largest fundraising appeal in its 30 year history over the Autumn of 2008 to help it launch itself into the new building. Fundraising will be required for finishing touches to the new building, technical equipment, launch programme and a host of other vital expenditure to ensure the Warehouse Theatre is launched into its new future on a firm footing.
[edit] External links
- Warehouse Theatre website
- Croydon Gateway: Arena development by Arrowcroft
- Ruskin Square: New web site for Stanhope led development
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